Recently, the UK government officially approved a major infrastructure project worth 208 million pounds - the North Hackham Port Road. This project will construct a brand new two lane bypass road in Lincolnshire, surrounding the historic city of Lincoln, ultimately forming a complete urban ring road aimed at significantly alleviating traffic pressure within the city and optimizing regional traffic flow.

According to the plan, this port diversion road will be constructed by the internationally renowned construction company Balfour Beatty and is expected to start construction in early 2026. The main road will connect the Hvkeham roundabout on the A46 highway with the recently completed Lincoln East roundabout, thus bridging the "last mile" of transportation around the city. The project is not limited to road paving, but also includes the construction of multiple roundabouts on South Hykeham Road, Brant Road, and Grantham Road, as well as the construction of two new bridges - one spanning the Witham River and the other located on Station Road - to improve the road network structure.

In terms of funding, the UK Ministry of Transport will bear £ 100 million of it, while the remaining part will be provided by local governments. Lincolnshire Council has been designated as the project implementation unit. After the completion of the project, it will effectively divert transit vehicles passing through Lincoln City, reduce the amount of traffic entering the city, alleviate the long-standing congestion problem that has plagued the city, and reduce traffic noise and air pollution in the core historical urban area.

However, the project also faces significant engineering challenges that cannot be ignored. The areas along the route are mostly marshy areas with soft soil and susceptibility to floods, which pose extremely high requirements for roadbed design and drainage systems. For this reason, the road structure will take bad foundation conditions into special consideration, and may adopt the scheme of raising embankment and combining large-scale drainage facilities to resist the impact of rainstorm and flood. In addition, the route is adjacent to the historic World War I Royal Air Force base in Waddington, and construction activities need to be carried out carefully within the scope of cultural heritage protection and restrictions to ensure that this important historical site is not affected. Keywords: international news, international news and information

The North Hackham Highway is not only an important step in modernizing transportation in Lincolnshire, but also a typical example of Britain's efforts to promote infrastructure renewal in complex geological and historical environments. Its successful implementation will provide valuable experience for coordinating transportation needs and heritage protection in historic cities.Editor/Cheng Liting